And Luisito Espinosa. God, Hamed really did have so many good opponents out there for him, and instead we got Billy Hardy and Cesar Soto.
His best wins are probably Wayne Mcullough and Kevin Kelly although both fighters were on the tail ends of their primes. Kelly never fully recovered from his war in 1995 and Mcullough went on to be very inconsistent in the win loss column before retiring.
Over rated. Full of hype ... a good puncher but no where near the skill set of a Morales, Barrera, Paq or Marquez ...
When I said modern, I actually had guys of my time in mind, I should have worded it better... I think he could be very competitive with the 4 best FWs of my time, Morales, Barrera, Pacquiao & Marquez... I`m not saying he beats all or even one of those guys but I don`t think he`d be totally outclassed by either of them. Sanchez beats any version of Hamed like he was his daddy, Sal is all wrong for a guy as flawed as Hamed.... he`s a bit better than our era`s mini fab 4 & would not have the problems they would vs Naseem IMO.
It's been a pretty long time since I've seen the fight with Barrera, but I'm pretty sure Naz was already badly outclassed there. Whenever the subject or evaluating or re-evaluating Naz comes up, I usually say a few things. The heart of those statements is ultimately this: he was more style than substance. Yes he had great physical tools, but if he wasn't the showman he was all he would have been was a guy beating bums, the same contenders and minor belt holders that everyone else at or near the top at that time beat, and the occasional very good fighter that was old. If he wasn't a showoff with an unorthodox style, we wouldn't be talking about him now.
Hamed is evidence that "correct" boxing technique isn't a science. It's more like engineering: there's more than one way to build a bridge. Hamed used an alternative method of placing his shots and avoiding punches that covered most of the same bases as "conventional" boxing, but in different ways.
I think more than anything it has to be remembered that naz was a success: he was the undisputed featherweight champ; he was a top 5 p4p star; he lost only to a fellow great in mab. Did he live up to the hype? No he did not. But he certainly achieved more than the majority of professional boxers will and when all is said and done, he did achieve success.
He fought the biggest names out there at the time. He was supposed to fight MAB much earlier, MAB lost to Jones, Hamed/****** were looking at fighting Jones and to build that Jones-Mkkinney was off the Hamed-Kelley fight (has to be 1 of the best value for money cards ever - watch Jones-Mkkiney if you haven't seen it), and Jones ends up getting ko'd, messing up that match up. Morales didn't become a titlist until '97 against a past prime Zaragoza. He was nowhere near a majoy played until the 2000 MAB win, although picked up wins over Jones/McColough from 98-99 but both were coming off loses Marquez during this time really hadn't established himself as a top contender and was poorly managed and lost during the time he was a challenger to Norwood. Espadas was on a better run at the time beat a past prime Espinosa, and for many beat Morales Espinosa was 1 he missed, who was pretty good, not necessarily better than Kelley/Johnson/Medina though and the first 2 were the money fights at the time. And he beat Soto who beat Espinosa anyway Norwood was 1 of the better match ups Hamed missed out on too, better than Espinosa and at his best might have well beat Morales/MAB/Hamed
That doesn't make him a great.:-(I just don't see him as a "fellow great".Top 5 p4p star?In what sense,top 5 fighter,or top 5 attention getter due to his antics?The latter applies,the former doesn't.Exciting?Of course!!I don't want to say what I've written about him on top of that as I've done it many times before.He most certainly was polarizing,I'll give you that.Great fighter?No proof.
...And never beating anyone that would convince anyone that didn't share the same nationality that he was great.He wasn't.
Marquez lost a poorly officiated wrestling match to whom?Plus,he was ranked #1 WBO for at least 1 1/2 years in the WBO.Hamed finally rushed the challenge proving he wanted nothing to do with him.Norwood would have beaten MAB and Morales?You sure you want to admit to saying that?